Sanhedrin 99: הָאוֹמֵר: אֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם

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Our daf tells us who is excluded from experiencing the World-to-Come. The basic proof text is Numbers (15:31), where it is written that "They despised the word of the Lord and has breached His commandments; his soul shall be excised ..." These people include:

· One who is not circumcised

· One who teaches parts of the Torah that are not in accordance with halacha

· One who humiliates another in public

· One who studies Torah but does not teach Torah

· One who could study Torah but does not do so

· One who worships idols

· One who speaks of G-d or Moses on Sinai with contempt

· One who treats a Torah scholar with contempt

· One who teaches their own interpretations of Torah rather than teaching halacha

We explore those who deny the divinity of Torah as well as the notion of heresy.

Sanhedrin 98: לֹא זָכוּ עָנִי וְרוֹכֵב עַל חֲמוֹר Messiah’s Donkey

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Our daf focuses on Moshiach, the messiah. How will we know when the messiah has arrived? What will it take for the messiah to arrive? How might we hasten that coming? The rabbis share their ideas, all with prooftexts, of course. They have numerous thoughts about when the messiah will come, including when the vast majority of Jews are not interested in halacha any longer, or when all of the Jewish community is naive and innocent.

The rabbis take for granted that the messiah will be of the line of King David. They wonder if he might enter the community from the main gates in Rome. They also suggest that he might sit with other paupers on the steps of Rome, bandaging his feet differently from others because he will be working toward healing so many people for the remainder of the day.

We explore the Messiah and his Donkey.

Sanhedrin 97: שָׁבוּעַ שֶׁבֶּן דָּוִד בָּא

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In the generation when the son of Dovid [the Moshiach] will come, the number of Torah scholars will decrease.

And as for the rest of the people, their eyes will become worn out through grief and anxiety. Numerous troubles and harsh decrees will be constantly appearing anew. Before the first trouble is over, a second one will hasten to appear. The following Baraisa describes the seven-year cycle preceding the Moshiach’s arrival: The Rabbis taught in a Baraisa: The seven-year cycle when the son of Dovid will come.

In the first year, this verse will be fulfilled: I will bring rain on one town, and on one town I will not bring rain, i.e. there will be a sufficiency in some areas and famine in others.

In the second year, the arrows of famine will be sent forth, i.e. there will be a limited famine in all areas.

In the third year there will be a great famine; men, women, and children will perish, and so will piously people and people of good deeds; and Torah knowledge will be forgotten by its students.

In the fourth year, there will be a sufficiency but not a complete sufficiency.

In the fifth year there will be a great sufficiency; people will eat, drink, and rejoice, and Torah knowledge will return to its students.

In the sixth year there will be sounds.

We explore the eschaton and the Gaon’s speculation of the end days.

Sanhedrin 96: דְּמוּת דְּיוֹקְנוֹ הָיְתָה חֲקוּקָה

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Our Gemara describes the attack of the Babylonian general Nevuzaradan on Jerusalem at the time of the destruction of the first Temple.

Rava said: Nebukhadnezzar sent Nevuzaradan three hundred mules laden with iron axes that could break iron, but they were all shattered on a single gate of Jerusalem. Although Nevuzaradan was ready to retreat, he feared that he would be killed as was Sanḥeriv before him. At that time, a heavenly voice called out to him that the time has come for the Sanctuary to be destroyed and the Temple burnt. He had but one axe left, so he went and struck the gate and it opened. Killing Jews as he went, he reached the Temple, which he set afire. He was elated with his triumph, but again a heavenly voice came down saying to him, ‘You have killed a dead people, you have burned a Temple already burned, you have ground flour already ground.’

We continue our exploration of the effects of the destruction on our liturgy and kinnot.

Sanhedrin 95: אֵין חָבוּשׁ מוֹצִיא עַצְמוֹ מִבֵּית הָאֲסוּרִין

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Our daf recalls on the day Sancheriv approached the cities surrounding Yerushalayim, his sorcerers told him that this day was the last day that he would be able to conquer Yerushalayim. They urged him to attack the city that day to take advantage of his last opportunity.

Rav Huna explains that the day was the last day that Shaul ha'Melech's sin of killing the Kohanim of the city of Nov was still potent and could affect the outcome of the war. Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: A man who came (to kill David) on account of Nov. For the Holy One, Blessed be He, had said to David, “How long will this sin (that since he took refuge in Nov, Shaul had the Kohanim killed) be hidden in your hand?

Through you, Nov, the city of Kohanim, was massacred (for they assisted you in your escape); through you, Doeg the Edomite was banished from the World to Come (for it was he who advised Shaul to kill the Kohanim); and through you, Shaul and his three sons were slain (by the Philistines).

We explore the city of Nob and its reception and mistaken identity in Pseudo-Philo.

Sanhedrin 94: חֲרֵי הַדְּבָרִים וְהָאֱמֶת הָאֵלֶּה

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Among the descendants of King David who ruled during the First Temple period there were those who were praised for following in his path and those who were condemned for not doing so.

King Ḥizkiyahu was one of the righteous kings, and, according to the Gemara on our daf, God was planning to anoint him as the Messiah.

Rabbi Yochanan said: Five Assyrians survived. They were: Sancheirev and his two sons, as well as Nevuchadnezzar and Nevuzaradan.

The Gemora proves this: That Nevuzaradan survived is known through an oral tradition. We also know that Nevuchadnezzar survived, for it is written that Nevuchadnezzar said: The form of the fourth is like an angel. Now, if Nevuchadnezzar had never seen an angel once before, how did he know what one looked like now? [It must be that Nevuchadnezzar had seen an angel previously.]

We explore the literary traditions surrounding the site of Jerusalem.

Sanhedrin 93: שֶׁעֲתִידִין שִׁשָּׁה בָּנִים לָצֵאת מִמֶּנָּה

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Gemara on our daf relates that Bar Koziva ruled for two-and-a-half years and then approached the Sages declaring himself to be the Messiah. The Sages replied that the Messiah was expected to be able to judge based on smell (see Isa 11:1-3), i.e. that he would have a unique sense of truth and justice. Finding that he was unable to do so, the Sages rejected his claim and he was killed.

According to the simple reading of the Gemara it sounds as if the Sages themselves killed Bar Koziva, in contrast with the story that appears in various midrashim (Eikha and others) that report that he was killed by the Roman enemy.

We explore

A Historical Study of the Sects and Ideas during the Second Jewish Commonwealth

With Solomon Zeitlin and others.

Sanhedrin 92: מִנַּיִין לִתְחִיַּית הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה

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One of the most powerful prophetic images – one that served as an inspiration to Rabbis and preachers through the ages to the time of the early Zionist movement – appears in Sefer Yeḥezkel (chapter 37). There we find that God takes the prophet Yeḥezkel to a valley of dry bones and commands him prophesy to those dry bones, informing them that God would breathe life into them and they would live.

Did this prophetic vision actually take place? And if it did, what happened to those resurrected people?

These questions are discussed by the Sages on our daf of Gemara.

Sanhedrin 91: נְשָׁמָה מֵאֵימָתַי נִיתְּנָה בָּאָדָם

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Antonius asks when the neshama is put into a person - from conception, as Rama believes, or from the moment when HaShem decides on the nature of the person that will result from a drop of semen, as Rashi believes. Rabbi says that the neshama is set when the fetus is formed. Antonius argues that unsalted meat cannot sit for three days and thus the neshama would rot if it did not enter semen immediately. And what about the yetzer ha'ra? Does it rule a person from the time a fetus is born or at birth? Rebbi says that this happens when the fetus is formed. Antonius argues that it would kick in the womb and force a miscarriage, thus it rules from birth. Rabbi finds a proof text that agrees with Antonius.

We explore the attitudes to the evil inclination.

Sanhedrin 90: הָאוֹמֵר אֵין תְּחִיַּית הַמֵּתִים מִן הַתּוֹרָה, וְאֵין תּוֹרָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֶפִּיקוֹרוֹס

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The first Mishna of the new Perek XI opens with the statement kol Yisrael yesh la-hem ḥelek ba-olam ha-ba – all Jewish people have a share in the World-to-Come. The underlying assumption in that statement is that within the framework of reward and punishment, every Jewish person is guaranteed an eternal spiritual existence whose ultimate purpose is embodied in the Resurrection of the Dead and the World-to-Come.

The Mishnah enumerates those who have forfeited this guarantee.

We explore the concept of the afterlife.

Sanhedrin 89: קֶשֶׁר הָעֶלְיוֹן דְּאוֹרָיְיתָא

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Another case of someone who will receive the death penalty of ḥenek – choking – is a navi sheker – a false prophet. According to the Mishna on today’s daf, someone who offers a prophecy that he did not hear, one that was not directed to him by God, will be charged and prosecuted by the courts. Other cases of prophecy – e.g., if a navi refuses to share his prophecy (like Yonah) or if someone makes light of a true prophecy, or if the navi does not keep the instructions that he receives as a prophecy – these situations are left for God to mete out punishment

We explore the phenomenon of prophecy.

Sanhedrin 88: מִתְּחִילָּה לֹא הָיוּ (מַרְבִּין) מַחְלוֹקוֹת בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל

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The Gemara continues its discussion of the halakha of a zaken mamre – an elder Sage who rebels against the decision of the Sanhedrin. Under what circumstances will a zaken mamre be liable to receive a death penalty for his rulings? According to the Mishna on today’s daf the situation that would lead to death is very limited.

The Mishna teaches that for the law of zaken mamre, if the Sage teaches that people should reject a biblical law, he is not considered to be a zaken mamre, since no one will take seriously a ruling that negates a law that is clearly written in the Torah.

We continue our exploration of Halacha and Authority.

Sanhedrin 87: בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ גָּבוֹהַּ מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל

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The source for the halakha of zaken mamre – an elder Sage who rebels against the decision of the Sanhedrin – appears in Sefer Devarim (17:8-13), where the Torah teaches that the individual who purposefully rejects the teaching of the High Priest or the judge will be killed.

According to the Mishna (86b) the Sage is brought to the courts in Jerusalem where he presents his understanding of the law, which is then clarified by one of the three courts that sit in the area of the Temple. If they disagree with his interpretation and he returns to his community where he offers a practical ruling against that of the court in Jerusalem, he will be punished.

If, however, he teaches his understanding as a theoretical matter, then he will not be held liable.

In our sugya the Gemora cites a verse in Yirmyahu (23:7) “…Who brought Bnei Yisrael up from the land of Egypt” and a verse in Devarim (17:8) “…then you shall arise and go up unto the place which the Lord thy G-d shall choose” to demonstrate that Eretz Yisrael is higher than any other land, and that the Beis HaMikdash is the highest point in Eretz Yisrael. The wording of the Gemora seems to indicate that Eretz Yisrael is physically higher.

We explore heights and measurements in talmud.

Sanhedrin 86: כָּךְ דָּרַשְׁתִּי

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We end our daf with a new Mishna: A zaken mamrei is one who rebels against the Great Sanhedrin. One sits at the entrance in the Temple wall, one at the entrance to the Chamber of the Great Sanhedrin, and one at the entrance to the Azarah. When a Sage opposed his city's beit din, they go to the Sanhedrin at the entrance in the Temple wall. They say, "this is how I expounded and this is how he expounded. This is how I learned and this is how they learned".

If the Sanhedrin can solve the question with a tradition that they know applying to this halacha, they do so. Otherwise they approach the Sanhedrin at the entrance to the Azarah. If they have no tradition, they all go to the Great Sanhedrin in the Chamber.

We explore Rav Kook’s novel approach to Halacha and rabim in the work of Chaim Book.

Sanhedrin 85: גְּנָבוֹ וּמְכָרוֹ יָשֵׁן

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A new Mishna is introduced discussing one who kidnaps a Jew. Is that person liable immediately, or not until he takes that person into his home? Or until he makes the Jew work? Or if he also kidnaps the person's son? What about kidnapping a half-slave? The rabbis consider the gender of the slave, the gender of the kidnapper, the value of one's work. They also wonder about the status of a fetus sold while it is inside of its pregnant mother.

We discuss human trafficking in history and Halacha.

Sanhedrin 84: אַף מַכֵּה אָדָם לִרְפוּאָה – פָּטוּר

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Perek X begins with a new Mishna. We learn that people who are strangled are those who:

· hit their father or mother

The Torah says, “he who wounds his father or mother shall be killed” (Ex. 21:15). Our sugya explains that this passuk includes any wound involving the drawing of blood with, of course, warning and witnesses. Apropos, the Gemora recounts that some Amoraim did not allow their sons to extract thorns from their flesh or burst a pimple on their bodies, lest they inadvertently transgress this prohibition.

We consider the halachot of healing.

Sanhedrin 83: אֵינָן בְּמִיתָה אֶלָּא בְּאַזְהָרָה

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Our Gemara brings a baraita where we find that among the list of transgressions for which a person is liable to receive a death penalty is someone who is not a kohen who eats teruma – the tithe set aside for the kohanim. In this case, the discussion is not about capital punishment but about mitah bi-yedei Shamayim – a Heavenly death sentence.

Rav rules that in such a case the penalty is malkot – lashes.

We explore death by the hands of heaven and Jonathan Colan’s essay on

The Supreme Court's Talmudic Debate on the Meanings of Guilt, Innocence, and Finality.

Sanhedrin 82: יַכֶּה קוֹסֵם אֶת קוֹסְמוֹ

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There are special cases of transgressions that do not involve a court action but are carried out either by the zealots or by Kohanim in the Temple.

One who steals service vessels in the Temple; one who blasphemes by a supernatural force, saying “Let the supernatural force (that is, the idol) smite him (the blasphemer's enemy), his Creator, and his Provider; and one who cohabits with an Aramean woman – zealots may kill him.

Sanhedrin 81: גַבְרָא בַּר קְטָלָא הוּא

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The common punishments meted out by the Jewish court are malkot (lashes) and occasionally mitat beit din (capital punishment) for severe crimes. Incarceration in prison, the most common form of punishment today, was unknown to the Sages. Nevertheless, there was a type of prison known as a kippa (vaulted chamber) that the Mishnayot on our daf discuss.

The Mishna teaches that if someone murdered his fellow and there were no witnesses (as the Gemara explains, there were witnesses but their testimony was rejected for technical reasons), the court will place the accused in a kippa and feed him bread and water. Similarly, the Mishna teaches, someone who repeatedly commits crimes and is punished is also placed in a kippa where he is fed barley until his stomach bursts.

The Gemara explains that we are talking about someone who repeatedly committed crimes for which the punishment is karet – a death sentence left for God.

Sanhedrin 80: אַבָּא, עָבַרְתָּ עַל דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה

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The Mishnah (79b) records two opinions in a case in which one group of people -- who were sentenced to be killed with Sekilah -- became mixed with a larger group of people who were sentenced to be killed with Sereifah (see Rashi on the Mishnah). Rebbi Shimon rules that the entire combined group receives Sekilah, because he maintains that Sereifah is a more severe form of death (and out of doubt Beis Din may not give the more severe form of death to those who might not be deserving of it). The Rabanan argue and say that the entire group receives Sereifah, because they maintain that Sekilah is more severe than Sereifah.

We continue our exploration of fetal status liability and Rachel Neis’ work on:

"Fetus, Flesh, Food: Generating Bodies of Knowledge in Rabbinic Science.”